EARTHQUAKE RESISTANCE BUILDINGS

EARTHQUAKE RESISTANCE BUILDINGS

TECTONIC PLATE

Tectonic plates are pieces of Earth's crust and uppermost mantle, together referred to as the lithosphere. The plates are around 100 km (62 mi) thick and consist of two principal types of material: oceanic crust (also called sigma from silicon and magnesium) and continental crust (sail from silicon and aluminium)

CURRENT PLATES

Major plates

These plates comprise the bulk of the continents and the Pacific Ocean. For purposes of this list, a major plate is any plate with an area greater than 20 million km2.

African Plate – A major tectonic plate underlying Africa west of the East African Rift – 61,300,000 km2

Antarctic Plate – Tectonic plate containing Antarctica and the surrounding ocean floor – 60,900,000 km2

Eurasian Plate – Tectonic plate which includes most of the continent of Eurasia – 67,800,000 km2

Indo-Australian Plate – A major tectonic plate formed by the fusion of the Indian and Australian plates – 58,900,000 km2 often considered two plates:

North American Plate – Large tectonic plate including most of North America, Greenland and part of Siberia – 75,900,000 km2

Pacific Plate – Oceanic tectonic plate under the Pacific Ocean – 103,300,000 km2

South American Plate – Major tectonic plate which includes most of South America and a large part of the south Atlantic – 43,600,000 km2

Australian Plate – Major tectonic plate, originally a part of the ancient continent of Gondwana – 47,000,000 km2

Indian Plate – A minor tectonic plate that got separated from Gondwana – 11,900,000 km2

Minor plates

These smaller plates are often not shown on major plate maps, as the majority do not comprise significant land area. For purposes of this list, a minor plate is any plate with an area less than 20 million km2 but greater than 1 million km2.

Somali Plate – Minor tectonic plate including the east coast of Africa and the adjoining seabed – 16,700,000 km2

Nazca Plate – Oceanic tectonic plate in the eastern Pacific Ocean basin – 15,600,000 km2

Amurian Plate – A minor tectonic plate in eastern Asia

Sunda Plate – A minor tectonic plate including most of Southeast Asia

Philippine Sea Plate – Oceanic tectonic plate to the east of the Philippines – 5,500,000 km2

Okhotsk Plate – Minor tectonic plate in Asia

Arabian Plate – Minor tectonic plate – 5,000,000 km2

Yangtze Plate – Small tectonic plate carrying the bulk of southern China

Caribbean Plate – A mostly oceanic tectonic plate including part of Central America and the Caribbean Sea – 3,300,000 km2

Cocos Plate – Young oceanic tectonic plate beneath the Pacific Ocean off the west coast of Central America – 2,900,000 km2

Caroline Plate – Minor oceanic tectonic plate north of New Guinea – 1,700,000 km2

Scotia Plate – Minor oceanic tectonic plate between the South American and Antarctic Plates – 1,600,000 km2

Burma Plate – Minor tectonic plate in Southeast Asia – 1,100,000 km2

New Hebrides Plate – Minor tectonic plate in the Pacific Ocean near Vanuatu – 1,100,000 km2

Microplates

These plates are often grouped with an adjacent major plate on a major plate map. For purposes of this list, a microplate is any plate with an area less than 1 million km2. Some models identify more minor plates within current organs (events that lead to a large structural deformation of Earth's lithosphere) like the Apulian, Explorer, Gorda, and Philippine Mobile Belt plates. There may be scientific consensus as to whether such plates should be considered distinct portions of the crust; thus, new research could change this list

African Plate

Adriatic Plate, also known as Apulian Plate – A small tectonic plate in the Mediterranean

Lawndale Plate – Mainly oceanic tectonic microplate off the southeast coast of Africa

Madagascar Plate – Tectonic plate formerly part of the supercontinent Gondwana

Rovuma Plate – One of three tectonic microplates that contribute to the Nubian Plate and the Somali Plate

Antarctic Plate

Kerguelen Plateau – Oceanic plateau in the southern Indian Ocean

Shetland Plate – Tectonic microplate off the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula

South Sandwich Plate – Minor tectonic plate south of the South American Plate

Australian Plate

Capricorn Plate – Proposed minor tectonic plate under the Indian Ocean

Futuna Plate – Very small tectonic plate near the south Pacific island of Futuna

Kermadec Plate – Long, narrow tectonic plate west of the Kermadec Trench

Maoke Plate – Small tectonic plate in western New Guinea

Niuafo'ou Plate – Small tectonic plate west of Tonga

Tonga Plate – Small tectonic plate in the southwest Pacific Ocean

Woodlark Plate – Small tectonic plate located in the eastern half of the island of New Guinea

Caribbean Plate

Panama Plate – Small tectonic plate in Central America

Gonave Microplate – Part of the boundary between the North American Plate and the Caribbean Plate

South Jamaica Microplate

North Hispaniola Microplate

Puerto Rico-Virgin Islands Microplate

Cocos Plate

Rivera Plate – Small tectonic plate off the west coast of Mexico

Eurasian Plate

Aegean Sea Plate, also known as Hellenic Plate – A small tectonic plate in the eastern Mediterranean Sea

Anatolian Plate – Continental tectonic plate comprising most of the Anatolia (Asia Minor) peninsula

Banda Sea Plate – Minor tectonic plate underlying the Banda Sea in Southeast Asia

Iberian Plate – Small tectonic plate now part of the Eurasian plate

Iranian Plate – Small tectonic plate including Iran and Afghanistan, and parts of Iraq and Pakistan

Molucca Sea Plate – Small fully sub ducted tectonic plate near Indonesia

Halmahera Plate – Small tectonic plate in the Molucca Sea

Sangihe Plate – Microplate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone of eastern Indonesia

Okinawa Plate – Minor tectonic plate from the northern end of Taiwan to the southern tip of Kyushu

Pelso Plate – Small tectonic unit in the Pannonian Basin in Europe

Timor Plate – Microplate in Southeast Asia carrying the island of Timor and surrounding islands

Tisza Plate – Tectonic microplate, in present-day Europe

Nazca Plate

Coiba Plate – A small tectonic plate off the coast south of Panama and north-western Colombia

Malpelo Plate – A small tectonic plate off the coast west of Ecuador and Colombia

North American Plate

Queen Elizabeth Islands Sub plate – Small tectonic plate containing the Queen Elizabeth Islands of Northern Canada

Greenland Plate – Supposed tectonic plate containing the Greenland craton

Explorer Plate – Oceanic tectonic plate beneath the Pacific Ocean off the west coast of Vancouver Island, Canada

Gorda Plate – One of the northern remnants of the Farallon Plate

Pacific Plate

Balmoral Reef Plate – Small tectonic plate in the south Pacific north of Fiji

Bird's Head Plate – Small tectonic plate in New Guinea

Conway Reef Plate – Small tectonic plate in the south Pacific west of Fiji

Easter Microplate – Very small tectonic plate to the west of Easter Island

Galapagos Microplate – Very small tectonic plate at the Galapagos Triple Junction

Juan de Fuca Plate – A small tectonic plate in the eastern North Pacific – 250,000 km2

Juan Fernandez Plate – Very small tectonic plate in the southern Pacific Ocean

Kula Plate – Oceanic tectonic plate under the northern Pacific Ocean which has been sub ducted under the North American Plate

Manus Plate – Tiny tectonic plate northeast of New Guinea

North Bismarck Plate – Small tectonic plate in the Bismarck Sea north of New Guinea

North Galápagos Microplate – Small tectonic plate off the west coast of South America north of the Galapagos Islands

Solomon Sea Plate – Minor tectonic plate to the northwest of the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific Ocean

South Bismarck Plate – Small tectonic plate in the southern Bismarck Sea

Philippine Sea Plate

Mariana Plate – Small tectonic plate west of the Mariana Trench

Philippine Mobile Belt, also known as Philippine Microplate – Tectonic boundary

South American Plate

Altiplano Plate

Falklands Microplate